It's a Love-Hate Relationship
by Shi-Toyu
Summary: Bucky Barnes hates Tony Stark, even if the guy is Steve's other best friend. He'd arrogant, selfish, and stealing Bucky's best friend away. Needless to say, he's not too thrilled about being stuck at dinner with the guy. IronWinter


It's a Love-Hate Relationship

A/N: Another for the Imagine Tony and Bucky prompts! I hope you enjoy! Once again, check out the awesome stories on AO3 and Tumblr!

"AU where Steve sets up two of his best friends-Bucky and Tony. They've never met before but hate each other because Steve talks about the other constantly and they think the other is stealing Steve (as a friend) from them. And then Steve sets them up on a date. Steve does regret it when he walks in on them the next morning."

"What the Hell is _he _doing here?"

Bucky glared at the man who was already seated at the table the Steve was leading him over to. The man looked up from his phone and his grin immediately morphed into a scowl. Neither sour expression seemed to phase Steve's brilliant mood, though. The blonde just kept right on smiling as he ushered Buck into the seat next to the obnoxious genius and settled down in one of the other chairs.

"Hey, Steve," Tony said, though his eyes never left Bucky's face, "I didn't know you were bringing the Buckaroo."

Bucky growled, his flesh hand curling into a fist against his thigh.

"_Don't call me that._"

Tony grinned sharply in response.

"Why? Does it bother you? I'm sorry. I had no idea."

He couldn't have sounded less sincere if he'd tried. Bucky kind of wanted to punch him in the face. Ever since Steve had met Tony, Bucky's childhood friend couldn't seem to shut up about the genius. Everything was, 'Tony said,' this and, 'You'll never guess what Tony did!' that, like he'd hung the damn moon. It was particularly annoying since Bucky thought he was possibly the most irritating man in the world. If it wasn't bad enough that Stark clearly thought he walked on water, the man also had a tendency to show up and steal Steve away at all kind of random hours.

"So!" The blonde man jumped in, finally showing the first sign of nerves. "Bucky, I'm sure you remember me telling you that Tony's an engineer." He turned back to grin at Tony. "Bucky's been interested in cars since we were kids. He'd make a crack mechanic for sure."

Tony snorted derisively and Bucky imagined the amount of pleasure it would bring him to wrap both hands around the other's neck and squeeze.

"I'm sure Tony and I don't really work on the same things. He's all wiring and programming, after all. And before that, weapons, right? Not so sure he'd know what to do with an actual car engine."

The genius looked thoroughly offended, which had been entirely Bucky's intent and he shot a grin of his own at the man. He was well aware of the man's affinity for technology of all kinds, but that didn't mean Tony had to know. The genius huffed, all but shoved his finger in the Bucky's face.

"Hey! I can handle an engine just fine! I restore classic cars as a hobby!"

Bucky pat him on the arm and gave him a patronizing look.

"And I'm sure you're very good at it, dear."

Steve coughed none-too-subtly and pushed his chair back from the table.

"Well, I'm going to pop to the restroom really quick. Be right back."

The table fell into silence as he walked away, both occupants watching him do. Bucky picked up his menu and held it loosely in front of him, not really paying it any attention. He'd been to this restaurant before, it was one of his favorites actually, but he figured as long as it looked like he was reading then Tony wouldn't bother him. He was wrong.

"Just for the record," the man said after only about minute or so, "I am."

Bucky looked up to see Tony fiddling with his cell phone.

"What?"

"Very good. Also, it'd probably be easier to convince me you were actually reading that menu if you held it the right way up."

Bucky stomped down on the blush that threatened to rise on his cheeks and instead lifted his nose snootily in the air.

"I'll have you know that I have a very rare eye condition and I can only read upside down."

"Oh, yeah, sure. That's why Steve-O has never once mentioned it in all the _hours_ he's spent talking about how great you are."

The statement took Bucky by surprise, but not as much as the hint of…jealousy(?) in Tony's voice. He opened his mouth to comment but never got the chance as their waiter arrived with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Compliments of your friend. He asked that I inform you that something urgent came up and he had to run. He sends his deepest apologies." He paused for a moment. "Are you ready to place your orders?"

Tony's eyes were darting between the bottle and the waiter before finally settling on Bucky once again. His mouth was gaping and he looked utterly shocked before it morphed into something else.

"That rat _bastard!_ This is a date!"

Bucky nearly swallowed his own tongue and whipped around to stare at the other man like he'd lost his mind.

"The _Hell_ it is!"

"No, no!" Tony insisted. "Think about it! Steve invites us both to dinner and doesn't tell either of us the other is coming! And this place isn't exactly his style! It's all romantic and…cuddly. And, sure, they have the best damn Italian food in New York, but you can't deny the atmosphere. So, not even two minutes after we sit down, Steve has to go to the bathroom and mysteriously disappears after stopping to send us a bottle of wine?" He leaned across the table like a detective interrogating a criminal. "He set us up!"

Bucky was about to call him crazy and deny the whole thing before something stopped him. If it were anyone else, he might not have been persuaded, but Bucky had known Steve long enough to know he had appointed himself Official Matchmaker of the World. (There'd been this one time in middle school when Steve was convinced the janitor and the lunch lady were soulmates and had spent half the school year trying to get them together.) He slammed his fist into the table.

"That's why he always talked about you so much! He wanted us to get together!"

Tony's grin seemed to be taking up at least half of his face and he had a vicious gleam in his eye. He scrambled to grab hold of Bucky's hand, the prosthetic one, but didn't even blink at the fact that it wasn't a real limb.

"You know what this means, right?"

"What?"

"We have to get _revenge_."

The waiter cleared his throat awkwardly.

"So I'll give you two a few more minutes to decide, then?"

*The following morning...*

Steve yawned widely as he exited his bedroom and headed toward the kitchen. He hadn't heard Bucky come back home the night before and he was hoping everything had gone alright after he'd left the restaurant. Things had seemed a bit tense, but Steve just knew that Bucky and Tony would be great together. He just hoped Bucky wasn't too mad at him when he figured out what Steve had done. Spotting the light in the kitchen already on, the captain thought perhaps his roommate/best friend was already up.

"Bucky? Did you put any coffee on? How did things go last night?"

"Oh, hey, Steve! I'd say they went pretty well. I was certainly _satisfied_."

Steve froze in the doorway to the kitchen, brain trying to catch up with the fact that Tony Stark was sitting at his kitchen table sipping a mug a coffee and absolutely buck-ass naked. The genius didn't even seem to notice anything amiss.

"_Tony_," the name came out sounding strangled, "where are your clothes?"

He glanced down as if only just remembering they were gone.

"Oh, yeah, Bucky kind of ripped them off last night after we got back. Totally destroyed. Thanks for the wine, by the way! I'm sorry you had to run off like that." He paused for a moment. "Can I borrow a pair of sweatpants?"


End file.
